Write down the learning objectives for your students. You should have academic objectives, such as learning letters and numbers. You also need fine and gross motor skill objectives, which children can achieve by using their fingers for detailed tasks and by running, jumping, climbing, throwing and catching. Finally, you should have art and music objectives, which at the preschool age usually means participating and enjoying the experience.
Create monthly themes that help children achieve the objectives. The themes can be related to holidays, the seasons, transportation, nature, animals or anything the children are interested in. Break the theme down into weekly segments. Transportation could be broken down into four segments: air, water, vehicles and trains. Then each day, talk about a different type of transportation, such as planes, helicopters and space shuttles for the air. Introduce letters, numbers and colors related to the themes.
Organize a variety of materials related to each lesson so you can simply pull the envelope out when you are ready to teach. For a unit on transportation, the children could make trains out of small boxes, so have boxes, paint, construction paper for wheels and windows, and pipe cleaners for a track. Whenever possible, double the materials in another envelope so you have a unit ready to go for the following year.
Plan to extend the lesson if the children are interested, or cut it short if they are not. This means you will have to create extensions to other subjects after each lesson, or go into your lesson in more depth. For example, if the children are interested in trains, show pictures of high-speed trains, sing songs about trains, and read a book to end the lesson.